Perhaps “Tanins” is not the kind of name that springs naturally to mind when coming up with a name for a new range of wines. Even non wine experts like me know that tannins (the English spelling) can be both good and bad in wine.
But the new Tanins brand of wine from the Languedoc Roussillon was recently launched at the Carrefour Wine Fair in Shanghai (“une gamme de vins spécialement conçue pour la Chine”).
A team from Hérault Tourism has also had the bright idea of educating the Chinese into general wine culture by making parallels with tea.
And why not, seeing as tea is “a sacred drink for the Chinese just as wine is an expression of terroir and the fruit of experience over generations,” as Jean-François Pouget from the tourist board explained to Midi Libre earlier this week.
They even distributed a booklet called “Dialogue entre le vin et le thé” (“Dialogue between wine and tea”) to the trade at the Shanghai fair.
“It was to create an educational tool, bilingual in French and Chinese, to tell the history of Languedoc wine and China tea. Culture, manufacturing, ceremonies… everything is made in parallel…”
The group of wine producers behind the Tanins brand, called Wineo, hope to sell 30,000 bottles in the first year, according to Tanin.fr.
These producers are mostly based in the Hérault and include:
- Château Grézan in Lauren
- Les Caves de Quarante – the third largest organic winery in France
- Cave Les Coteaux de Montpellier – Saint-Geniès-des-Mourgues
- Caveau de la Clairette d’Adissan
- Domaine du Mas Bécha, near Perpignan in Roussillon
Tanins will also be promoted at the “Bonjour French Fair” in Bangkok next month, which has Languedoc Roussillon as its main theme.
Tannins are a natural preservative in wine. Un-aged wines with high tannin content can be less palatable than wines with a lower level of tannins. Tannins can be described as leaving a dry and puckered feeling with a “furriness” in the mouth that can be compared to a stewed tea, which is also very tannic. This effect is particularly profound when drinking tannic wines without the benefit of food.
Many oenophiles see natural tannins (found particularly in varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon and often accentuated by heavy oak barrel aging) as a sign of potential longevity and ageability.
- Wikipedia on tannins
Midi Libre reports that Languedoc Roussillon accounts for the most French wines sold in China, after them pesky rivals in the Bordeaux region.
Related posts:- 2009 Languedoc vintage could be special
- Funny wine names #1: Vin de Merde
- Languedoc wine now comes in ‘tetrapaks’
- Winemakers make wine – and blogs too
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